The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday confirmed that December overtime payments owed to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) nurses and others working in Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) facilities have been paid while attributed the delay to a technical budgeting issue that is now under forensic analysis.

Dr Michael Darville, minister of health and wellness, said some budget line items had been depleted without being flagged in time, prompting what he described as a forensic analysis to determine exactly what occurred and why corrective action was not taken sooner.

“I’m still getting into the nuts and bolts of what went wrong, and so we’re looking at some forensic analysis, because every ministry has line items that are depleted, and it’s important for the finance officers to red flag and say, ‘Hey, we have a problem here.’ It’s always normal for you to go into your budget, make some adjustments, and when that’s not available, go to [Ministry of] Finance on an emergency basis,” said Dr Darville 

He maintained that there was “never any intention” to withhold overtime compensation and described the matter as “water under the bridge” now. Dr Darville added that under a new digital IT system being implemented across government, ministries will receive advance notice when budget line items are nearing depletion, allowing adjustments to be made before payments are disrupted.

“It’s unfortunate. I didn’t say much about it because it was a technical glitch, and we worked it out very quickly. But the reality is what happened, happened, and I assure you that under this new system and our digital IT programme, many of us will know way in advance when a line item is about to be depleted and act on it,” said Dr Darville.

“I do it every day in my ministry. The PHA does it. Something happened - that’s water under the bridge - but there was never any intention not to pay people what they deserve.”

The PHA effectively ran out of allocated overtime funds within the first three months of the fiscal year, prompting an internal memo that all overtime required prior approval from the managing director’s office to be processed.

The resulting payment delays sparked heavy backlash from healthcare workers and unions, with the Bahamas Nurses Union and other union leaders urging members not to work beyond scheduled shifts until outstanding overtime was paid and describing the situation as “unacceptable” and “disrespectful”.

The issue led to a sick-out by some nurses which disrupted services at Princess Margaret Hospital and other facilities, forcing patients to wait longer or return home as staffing shortages worsened.

Government officials later confirmed Cabinet had approved payment of the outstanding overtime funds, and said the disbursement process was underway even as unions continued to call for greater transparency and accountability.